Machine for separating asbestos from the rock.



- J. E, WERNER.

MAcmNE'roR SBPABATNG AsBBsTQs PROM THE Rock.

APPLIOATIONTILED JULY 12 1911.

Patented Mayzl, `1912.

FIG.

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sTATEs PATENT 'A OFFICE..

JESSE E. WERNEB, F IAHOILADEL'PHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

MACHINE FOR SEPARATING ASBESTOS FROM THE ROCK.

In separating asbestos from conglomerate rock by means of the usual crushing or. pressing action, a fairly large proportion of the fiber is so intimately associatedwith the rocks `and stones that it is not removed.

Such rocks and stones are cast aside as waste product.

The object ofmy inventionis to devise an apparatus capable of` treating this waste product so as to successfully and economically remove therefrom the associated asbestos.

An apparatus or `machine embodying a l lpreferred form of my invent-ion is shown 1n the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure. 1' is a vertical sectional view'of the machine; Fig. 2 is a cross-section on the line 2-'-2 of Fig. 1;- Fig. 3 is a detail View' of one of the brushes.

a is a box or inclosure having preferably a depth slightly less than its height, and awidth very much less than its depth.v Extending between the end walls of the box is an upper drum b and lower drum c; The sha-ft of each drum extends through the end walls` of the box and turns in bearings d, on the outside of the box,- mounted upon horizontal beams @,the inner faces of the beams being 40 flush with the inside of the box. Upon the two drum shafts are respectively mounted pulleys f, f yconnected by a crossed belt g. One of these shafts (say `the upper one) is a driving shaft and is rotated at the-rate of about 1100. revolutions per minute. The diameters of the two pulleys f are so proportioned that the shaft of the lower drum will be rotated somewhat more slowly, say about 980 revolut-ions per minute.

On the upper drum b is mounted a series ofwue cutters h. Each cuttenis composed cfa multitude of wireknives or bristles k the inner ends ofwhich extendthrough segment-shaped plates :l fastened to theperiphery ofA the drum. Each knife is preferably about one-eiglitliof*aninch wide and-:labout Specication of Letters Patent.

Application tiled flluly 12, 1911. Serial` No. 638,076.

- ratenteaMaym, 1912.

one-thirty, second of an inch or less thickness. Those knives extending along the front longitudinal face of a cutter are somewhat longer than the knives extending along the rear longitudinal face of the cutter, while the intermediate knives are of intermediate and graduated length. By the front face of a cutter I mean that face there- Jof that faces in the direction of rotation o f the drum. The knives are mounted so that their flat sides face toward the ends of the drums. The outer end of each knife is beveled so that the front edge thereof is slightly longer than its rear( edge. The cutters i of 70. the lower drum c are constructed similarly to the cutters h of vthe upper drum, the only difference'being that the thickness of a lower cutter i-that is, the distance between its front and rear facesis less than the 75 thickness ofy an upper cutter h, and the distance between two adjacent cuttersl t is greaterthan the distance between two adj acent cutters h.`\

The front wall of the box a has an inlet m for the reception of the rock to be'handled. In the -bottom of the box is -an outlet' n for the separated rock, this outlet being adapted ,to be closed by thesliding gate c. In the rear wall of the box, -nea'r its top, is an outlet 85 o for the separated asbestos ber.

Within the box a is a casing composed of 4an approximately semi-circular hood or dome p; an inclined front plate ordeiector r extending from the lower end of the front of the hood downward andV inward, nearly tangentially to -the periphery of the lower cutters li and terminating close to the said periphery; and aninclined rear wall s extending from the lower end of the rear of the hood downward and inward to the outlet'n. y Y

t is a chute extending from above the outlet n upward in front of the plate, r to and the outlet o the casing is. formed so/ that its direction of-extension is sharply downward, while below the outlet 0, thecasing slopes rearward; thereby directing any stones, strikinda'bove or below the outlet, 105 toward thewtl' "sir i The material to be treated is fed continuously into the ilet m andpasses down .the -chute#l beneath the deflector 1', the gate v at this ltime being closed. passes beyond the 'deiiector into the space within the casing it-y isv engaged'byl the ends beyond the lower edge of the inlet m. Above As thel material the. casing and into engagement with the rapidly revolving cutters 71which also perform the cutting or carding action above described. As the material drops by'gravity it is again engaged by the revolving cutters and again thrown out into the surrounding space. This action is repeated until most of the fiber is -released and by virtue of its inelydivided condition it floats to the top and is carried out the outlet 0. To induce the exhaust of the ber, holes w are provided in the casingflthereby creating a` suction of air through "the/holes into the casing and out of the outleto.

The rapidly revolving knives ofthe cutters not only separate the fiber from the rock, but they actually elongate the fibers to such an extent that a comparison of the separated product with the original material would apparently indicate that one could not befextracted from the other.

As long as the stones,` contain any substantial amount of the iiber, they will be caught, as they slide down the rear wall s, by the cutters and again subjected to the shredding action described; but when the fiber is substantially removed they slide down the rear wall and rest upon the gate c'. After the machine has operated for a half hour or so, the gate c is opened and the separated rock, stone and dirt allowed to drop through the outlet n.

It has been found that if the knives of the cutters are madeI of uniform length, the separated ber will not adhere to the cutters sufficiently long to effect any considerable.

stretchingI thereof, whereas by gradually decreasing the lenglths of the cutters from front to rear yof t e cutter, the separated fiber will pile up and elongate before it is blown from the cutter. The thicker the cutters from front to rear, the more e'ective is found' to be the stretching action, within reasonable limits. It is found, however, that the lower cutters must be made comparatively thin and the spaces between them comparatively wide in order to take care of the relatively large proportion of it and .heavy material; whereas the materlal han-- dled by the upper cutters contains a relatively small proportionl of grit and stone, thereby permitting the cutters to be made of greater width with smaller spaces be-.

tween them.

It is found to bel necessary to place the lower cutters so that their peripheries ass quite close to the inshoot. Otherwise t ere would be so thick a mass of material to cut' that the machine would clog and a large` proportion of the material fall down to the and stretching action before described.

It is advisable to run the material through the machine more than once, in order that a practically complete separation may be effected'.

Having now fully described my invention,

what I claim and desire to ters Patent is:

1. In a machine for separating asbestos, the combination with a casing, of a drum within the casing, means to' rotate the drum, and a series of cutters on said drum, each cutter being composed of a multitude of protect by Letknives of different lengths, the longer knivesv being nearer the front longitudinal face of a cutter and the shorter knives being nearer its rear longitudinal face.

2. In a machine for separating asbestos the combination with a casing, of two drums, one. above the other, within the casing, means 'to rot-ate the drums, and cutters arranged in longitudinal rows on each drum, the thickness from front to rear of the longitudinal cutters on the upper drum exceeding the thickness similarly measured of the longitudinal cutters on t-he lower drum, there being an inlet in the casing adjacent to the lower drum. v

'3. In a machine for separating asbestos, the combination with a casing,'of two drums, one above the other, within the casing, means to rotate the drums, and cutters 4arranged in longitudinal rows on each drum, spaced apart to 'form pockets, the width of the pockets between adjacent longitudinally Y extending cutters being greater on the lower drum than the width of thesimilarly formedv pockets on the upper drum, there being an inlet in the casing'adjacent to the lower drum.

4. In a machine for separating asbestos, the combination with a closed casing, of a plurality of rotary cutter drums in the casing one above the. other; said casingbeing provided with an inlet for the material to be treated below'the axis of the lower drum,

an outlet for the separated fiber above the axis of the upper drum, and an'outlet for the residue at the bottom of the casing.

5. In a machine for separating asbestos, the combination withaclosed casing having iis 4the front of the casing, 'an outlet for the separated fiber in the upper part of the rear ofthe casing, and holes creating a suction of air through the easing between said holes and the outlet 'g and a gate in the bottom of the casing adapted to be opened to per-mit the dischargel of the residue from the bottoni of the casing. 4

6. In a machine for separating asbestos, the combination with a casing having a curved upper`- portion, a downwardly and inwardly inclined front plate, terminating `above the-bottom of the casing, a downwardly and inwardlyV inclined rear wall, terminating at an outlet in the bottom of the casing an inwardly sloping chute extending from outside and above the lower end of the front plate to the lower part. of the casing, a rotarydrum in the lower part ofv t-he casing, cutters thereon rotating in close 1 proximity to the inlet beneath said front let for the rock and stone, of a rotary cuttercarrying drum arranged closer to the front wall of the casing than to the rear thereof, a second rotary cutter-carrying drum ai ranged above but relatively close to the lower drum, an inlet in `proximity to the lower drinn, and an outlet for the ,separated fiber in thev upper portion of the casing.

8. In a machine for separating asbestos, the combination with a casing having an arch-shaped upper portion provided with an outlet for the separated asbestos in one wall thereof. and fronti' and rear walls forming the lower portion of the casing and converging toward a bottom ont-let for the rock and stone` the front wall having an inlet for the material to be separated, of a rotary drum arranged in the lower portion of the casing. cutters thereon arranged in longitudinal rows spaced apart'to form longitudina'l pocket-s. each cutter consistingof a multitude of blades of different lengths the longer blades being nearer the front face of the cutter and the shorter blades nearer the rear face thereof, a rotary druln arranged above and relatively close to the lower drum but relatively far from the top of the cas ing, cutters on the upper drum constructed and arranged similarly to the cutters of the lower drum but of greater thickness between their front yand rear faces, and means to rotate the drums.

In testimony 'of which invent-ion, I have hereunto set my hand, at Philadelphia, on

this 1st day of July, 1911.

JEssE n. WERNER. 

